Paul Martin had a particularly close encounter with the unidentified flying object recently witnessed by hundreds of Canadians on the prairies as it lit up the night sky.

Paul Martin had a particularly close encounter with the unidentified flying object recently witnessed by hundreds of Canadians on the prairies as it lit up the night sky. Martin and his entourage were flying over Alberta on March 21 aboard his Challenger jet when his pilot witnessed a “very bright light falling from the sky … with smoke trailing,” according to a report made to the federal Transportation Department.

‘A BIT UNUSUAL’

Chris Rutkowski, research co-ordinator for Ufology Research of Manitoba, noticed the VIP’s pilot report while compiling his annual list of sightings.

“The object itself didn’t seem too mysterious although the fact the prime minister was involved made it a bit unusual,” said Rutkowski, who’s been called Canada’s Fox Mulder (an FBI investigator on The X-Files.)

Last year, Rutkowski collected data from 673 cases — most of them had simple explanations.

“The ones we don’t have explanations for are definitely not proof that the Earth is being invaded. We are simply not sure what some of these objects may have been,” he said.

Rutkowski believes Martin would have been alerted to the fireball, which turned out to be a large piece of a comet or asteroid entering the Earth’s atmosphere.

But a spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office could not confirm whether Martin was aware of the celestial sighting. Pilots are required to report any UFO sightings during their flights.

Martin was en route to a farm near Picture Butte, Alta., to announce an aid package for farmers.

Meteors, which are pieces of rock from outer space which burn up in a puff of light, happen all the time but this one stood out because of its intensity and early-evening timing, which ensured a widespread audience across eastern Alberta, the Prairies and into Ontario.

Witnesses reported seeing what looked like a comet with a blue light near the front and a long, bluish-green tail behind.

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